What sent John Ratcliffe to Moscow on Aug. 25? Veteran Russia analyst Glen Howard, the president of the Saratoga Foundation and the longtime head of the Jamestown Foundation, tells Independence Avenue Media the answer is in the recently reported intelligence: “The Russians are preparing something.”
A sabotage campaign across Europe. Russian probing along NATO’s periphery. Reports of a mobilization drive of up to half a million men. And, according to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, as many as 50,000 North Korean troops that could backfill Russian lines and free forces to move somewhere new. Howard says at the very least Washington saw a pattern it didn’t like and sent its spy chief to deliver a message.
Howard also sees a shift inside the Trump administration. Ratcliffe, a known Russia hawk who has largely kept to the shadows, is stepping into a leading role.
